


A Witch’s Way to Love

by Suonjar



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: A Plant Wrote This, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Vicchan Lives, Witch Georgi Popovich, Witch Victor Nikiforov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-06 23:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14658249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suonjar/pseuds/Suonjar
Summary: Viktor heard many stories of witches hiding in the swamps, but he had never thought that one would lure him away to make him his student. When living in the middle of the nowhere becomes too boring, he runs away to start a new live, opening an herb shop in Detroit. Soon, he meets the love of his life, but his old master, Georgi told him not to fall in love with regular humans…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for bing 3 of [liveloveyoibang](https://liveloveyoibang.tumblr.com/). I had the pleasure to work with the wonderful [Ichka ](http://ichi-ichka.tumblr.com/%20), check out her other works too!  
> Thanks for beta-reading for Antares!

Raised in a small village in the middle of nowhere, Viktor heard many stories of monsters and witches hiding in the woods and swamps surrounding the area. This had never stopped him though from discovering the edge of the forest nearby. It was like the woods were calling him in a way that he couldn’t explain to the adults even if he wanted. 

And if he was being honest, he didn’t want to. 

The villagers were good to him – as good they can be to an orphan who was passed around the village to feed because everybody was too poor to take in a new child. Viktor couldn’t wait to be old enough to work and help out more. As long as he couldn’t, he wandered around the fields, collecting pretty flowers and nice smelling herbs as a gift for whoever gave him food. 

Over time, the woods continued on calling out to him. On one hot summer day, when the houses and the trees on the street couldn’t shelter from the heat any longer, Viktor wandered further into the forest to see what was so mysterious and scary about them. 

Viktor felt immediately better after stepping under the cool shades of the trees; there was a light breeze shaking the leaves. Giving in to his curiosity, he walked deeper into the forest than ever before while the air cooled around him. He kept on going until the trees started to clear, replaced by bushes and other smaller plants. Viktor only stopped when his shoes began to get stuck at some places. 

He wandered into the swamp that locals feared. 

He was told even scarier stories about this place, but to be honest, Viktor didn’t really believe them now, standing there and staring at the open area scattered with bushes, grass and occasional watery spots between them. It looked neither foggy, dark, nor impenetrable, he could recognize some deer-path that led through it. It had been dry lately, he assumed that he would be alright too if he’d followed those. 

Viktor casted one last glance in the direction where he came from – it didn’t take long for him to get here, so he assumed that he’d be back before dinner. 

After a few careful steps, he didn’t understand why the adults were so terrified of this place. There weren’t any ghost lights flickering over the dangerous parts to lure him into places where he could be swallowed by the swamp. The only irritating thing was that there were clouds of mosquitoes wherever he set a foot; they buzzed around his bare ankles hungrily, feeding on his blood, no matter how hard Viktor tried to scare them by flinging his limbs. 

For a moment, he thought about turning back to the village and return at another time; his current stepmother had a wonderfully working paste against the mosquitoes that he always forgot to put on whenever he went to explore the forest. But then he decided to stay as he saw some familiar looking white flowers by a nearby puddle. He remembered seeing them in the house, and that his stepmother often complained that her old aching back didn’t like whenever she went to pick herbs. 

Viktor took off his sun hat to have something for storing the herbs. They were not so easy to remove from their places like he imagined it, so he sunk into the work that much that he didn’t realize that he was not alone anymore. Or the man in front of him emerged simply from nothingness. 

“What are you doing on my field, child?”

Startled at the cold voice, Viktor dropped his hat as he raised his head to have a look at the stranger, staring at him with mouth wide open. 

He was the strangest looking person Viktor had ever seen. Despite of the heat, he wore a heavy coat over his shoulders and old looking shirt and pants under it, while his face was rather young. Viktor was confused. The tales told him to be aware of old witches and monster not strange looking young men. 

“I asked you something, child.”

“I was picking herbs,” Viktor answered with slightly shaking voice.

“You look too young to be here alone.” The stranger glanced at Viktor up and down. “Where are your parents?”

“I’m an orphan.”

His expression seemed to soften. “Where do you live?”

“In the village beyond the forest,” Viktor answered as he didn’t know the name of his birth place. As a child he didn’t even think about the existence of any other villages aside from his own. 

“You seem to know those herbs that you picked,” he nodded towards Viktor’s hat. 

“One of my stepmothers sells them, and sometimes she allows me to help her collect them.”

The stranger stared at him thoughtfully as he finally said, “But you feel like that she is holding you back. That you could do more?”

Viktor nodded hastily. How did this stranger know this so well?

“You seem like a smart little guy, and I sense great power in you. I could use some help in my home, and for exchange, I can teach you everything that I know.”

After years of hard training, Viktor still couldn’t tell if Georgi used some kind of charm on him to make him go with him, or that his child self was naïve enough to follow an odd stranger, but it didn’t matter. The promise of teaching and a warm, big dinner were tempting enough to follow him without a question. 

Even if the food was served in a hut that moved on chicken legs around the swamp. 

 

*

 

Living in a witch’s hut as a child was exciting even if there was a couple of things that he was not allowed to do. Viktor sometimes got in trouble when he experimented with mixing various herbs for charms all by himself that later exploded in Georgi’s face at the most unexpected moments. 

Living in a swamp in the middle of nowhere as a teenager was simply lame and boring. He wasn’t allowed to go explore outside of the swamp and forests around them, not to mention the villages nearby. Not that Viktor could remember where they were exactly as the hut kept on moving on its chicken legs for their own safety. 

Viktor learned early on that Georgi disliked regular people, but the reason was unclear for him until he learned to read. His first thing to do was to stumble upon some cheesy romance novels and poems behind a curtain. When he opened them, unsent love letters with his mentor’s bad handwriting fell out of the books. The moment Georgi found out, he got unbelievably furious and yelled at him for the first time. 

“How dare you to rummage through my things without my permission?!”

“You told me not to talk to locals yet you have these!” Viktor shouted back, waving with the love letters.

“They are old and none of your business!” 

“You told me to practice reading,” Viktor defended himself weakly, “and these were the only thing I could find here.”

“What about the spell books?”

“I’ve read them all.”

Georgi shook his head nervously, “Then read them again and again, but don’t touch my personal letters.”

Viktor stared at him stubbornly, then he put down the books and letters on the table. 

“Look, Viktor,” Georgi sighed. “There was a girl I loved, but she left me as soon as she learned about my powers. Humans can’t and won’t understand us; they believe that they hunted us until we became extinct and it’s better that way. They fear everything that they can’t explain with their so called science. When I tell you not to talk and especially not to love any of them, I do that only to protect you.”

“But I’m human too,” Viktor muttered. 

“Not anymore,” Georgi said. “Magic is slowly soaking into your skin and bones, making you stronger and different.”

At first, Viktor had a hard time to believe this, but as he spent more time in the witch’s hut, he believed it more and more. During the years as he grew stronger and older, Georgi stayed the same way as he knew him. As his body grew, his thirst for knowledge and his desire to explore the outside word grew as well. He learned to listen to the earth where their magic was from; he learned to listen to the plants that carried that magic. 

Despite all of Viktor’s talent, Georgi still refused to let go of him, stating that Viktor had everything he needed and that he still had a lot to learn before he could live on his own – a witch’s life was not easy after all. 

Viktor decided to take his destiny in his own hands. 

One day when Georgi was out for a hunt, Viktor opened one of their spell books, and searched for a stable place in the swamp to draw a portal in the mud. If Georgi won’t let him go, then he would go on his own; he didn’t need his approval. He drew the portal on the ground as carefully as he could, scattered it around with the needed flowers and seeds for a successful teleportation, and started to chant the ancient words for travelling, hoping that his knowledge was enough to conjure such powerful magic. 

Soon, the marks began to glow, and Viktor stepped within them, letting the power of earth carry him through lands unknown. Under normal circumstances, he needed to think of an exact place to go, but he assumed that if he doesn’t, the magic would still do its job. 

Not to mention that this way, his mentor won’t be able to track him. 

After several minutes of travelling, Viktor finally landed on solid ground as the power of the spell dissipated. Opening his eyes, he noticed it was night wherever he landed. Looking up, he couldn’t see any stars on the sky above him because lamps on the streets dimmed the starlight. He found himself in a narrow dead end, so he walked out to look around, realizing that he was probably in a faraway village – or even better, in an exciting, big town. 

Looking around, he could see huge buildings in the flickering light of the lamps. The lack of nature anywhere near him made Viktor panic a little. How was he supposed to live here without trees and wild animals running around? For a short minute, Viktor almost regretted coming here because the town looked too foreign for him, too lifeless. Then he noticed some people walking on the other side of the street, and decided to approach them for information. 

“Hi, excuse me, can you tell me where I am?” he asked, but he was only met with unsure gazes and with an answer he couldn’t understand. Then they left hastily as if Viktor scared them away. 

Of course, Viktor reasoned, he didn’t think about that his spell could send him in a foreign country with a different language. His magic was even more powerful than he thought!

After casting a translation spell on himself, he approached some other locals. He might have made a mistake because the people were laughing at him, but eventually he found out that he was in a place called Detroit, and that counted as a progress. 

Viktor had never heard about Detroit before, so he came to a conclusion that this was a good place to hide from Georgi and start a new, exciting life without anybody telling him what to do. 

However, he needed to find a place to stay for the night as the portal spell took a lot of energy out of him, but this wasn’t as easy as he thought. The locals weren’t really friendly when he offered herbs and seeds as payment. They threatened Viktor to call the police – whatever that was – when Viktor tried to slip in to sleep in the corner of a house. Hours later he was even more exhausted. He sat down next to some trash cans with an empty and aching stomach. He should have waited until after dinner before he ran away. Ever since living with Georgi, he was used to eating regular meals. 

As he continued on wondering about his miserable attempt to run away and start a new life, a big fluffy dog laid next to him. Viktor reached out his hand and when the dog didn’t bite him, only curiously sniffed at his hand, he stroked its soft fur. 

“Are you lost too?” he asked the dog, not waiting for any answer. The dog whined and stared at Viktor. He was suddenly hit by a feeling that it understood him, so he kept on talking, telling the dog about his life and how he landed here. When he finished his story, the dog got up and stared at him with wagging tail as if it tried to say: _get up and follow me_. 

And why not? Viktor knew that animals were great at understanding things if you give them the chance, and not that he had anything to lose. So he got up too, and run after the dog when it darted in a direction. Viktor used the last of his energies, so he really hoped that this would be worth it. 

Finally, the dog stopped in front of an old, almost falling apart house. It looked pretty abandoned, but Viktor looked around in it just to be sure that nobody was there before deciding that this will be his place to stay. The floor was overgrown with grass and tiny bushes, and there were lizards sneaking around in the shadows while birds nested up on the windows. 

Viktor smiled. 

He managed to find a piece of nature in this strange town, and his whole situation didn’t seem to be so scary like before. 

“Thank you,” he patted the dog’s side. “Do you want to stay with me here?”

The dog stared at him as if it couldn’t believe his words and Viktor laughed for the first time after arriving in Detroit. He searched for a spot in the corner, and called the dog to lay down next to him for sleep. He needed his strength tomorrow after all if he wanted to repair his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reblog the art [here](http://ichi-ichka.tumblr.com/post/173895308800/artwork-for-liveloveyoibang-bing321-%E3%83%BE)!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri finds an adorable herb shop and falls in love with the owner of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of our bing fic with Ichka - follow her on tumblr here: [ichi-ichka](http://ichi-ichka.tumblr.com/)

Yuuri had always been that kind of person who insisted on letting his dog lead the way whenever they took a walk. 

His best friend, Phichit, often made fun of him because of this; he trusted his beloved toy poodle way too much (even more than him!), but Vicchan proved to be helpful for his owner. 

He immediately knew that it was a good idea to complain to Vicchan about the lack of proper herb shops in Detroit. It had always been obvious to him that his dog was a smart little guy, and this was proven again when he led him in a small street Yuuri had never seen before. Phichit found it really funny that this kind of things happened so often, but he also admitted that Yuuri’s knowledge of the streets of Detroit came in handy whenever they were about to get lost after a party or shopping. 

This time, Vicchan led him to a rather antiquated but new looking building which was an herb shop according to the text over the entrance. This place could be worth a try; maybe they had actually good herbs, instead of the tasteless ones sold at the supermarkets. Around the building, nature was blooming; there were young birch trees growing, shadowing the front, and Yuuri noticed a few nests between the branches. The chirping of birds filled the air which was rarely heard in Yuuri’s experience in the city outside of a park. 

Vicchan barked when he got bored of Yuuri examining their environment, and started to tug at the leash again. This was surprising; he was usually really calm and well-behaved. Yuuri let Vicchan pull him closer to the shop; it couldn’t hurt to have a look at their supplies. 

“I’m sorry, Vicchan, I don’t think that the owner of the shop would be happy to have a dog inside,” he said gently, sitting on his heels to tie the leash to one of the birch trees, but the poodle used the opportunity to slip away and run into the shop as the door stood wide open. Yuuri jumped up too late to catch him, so he rushed after him, already embarrassed that the first thing that he would have to say to the owner was an apology. But when he stumbled inside, he was greeted by a sight he wasn’t prepared for. 

Vicchan was usually a shy and well-mannered dog. Now however, he jumped on a completely unknown man who knelt down in front of him, covering him with sloppy dog kisses as he gushed to him in a foreign language. Yuuri decided to address the situation before his dog would completely betray him. 

“Hi,” he said with a polite tone. “Sorry for his behaviour, he isn’t usually like this.”

When the man looked up, Yuuri felt his heart skipping a beat because he was incredibly beautiful. His ice blue eyes gleamed in the cosy semidarkness of the shop, burning unforgettably in Yuuri’s mind. He noted that his almost white hair must be really long since he wore it braided around his scalp as if it was a crown. The colour of his hair made Yuuri wonder about his age as his face was rather young. 

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” he waved with a friendly smile. “Animals are welcome in my little shop.” 

He spoke pretty slowly and with an accent that Yuuri couldn’t place anywhere – maybe Slavic? 

“I have a dog too. Come here and greet our guest, Makka!”

Yuuri was almost knocked over when a large, fluffy creature rushed to him and jumped on his chest to lick his face. Yuuri turned his head away to catch his breath and giggled at the sudden attention. 

“Makkachin, where are your manners!” her owner scolded the dog, but she didn’t seem to listen to him. Yuuri ruffed her soft fur, and Vicchan bounced back to him, yipping jealously. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Makkachin,” Yuuri giggled. 

“We’re working on the jumping on costumers part, she scared away a lot of people like that,” the man laughed. “So what brings you in my little shop? Looking for some herbs?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri nodded, getting up from the floor and handing the shop assistant a list. “I wonder if you have these.”

 

*

 

It took only a few weeks for Yuuri to become a regular costumer in the herb shop. During this time, he learned that the owner’s name was Viktor, and he was from somewhere Eastern Europe – he didn’t want to say from which part, and Yuuri knew that it wasn’t his place to pry if Viktor didn’t want to tell him. They had other common topics after all. Viktor was curious what Yuuri needed the herbs for, and when he told him that he was a hobby cook, he became very excited and wanted to taste Yuuri’s cooking. 

It was nice to stay in the shop in the particularly hot summer when the inside was cool and the air smelled nice. There wasn’t too much space in it, and they had to move carefully especially with all the animals inside – there were street cats, birds and lizards resting on sunny spots.

Viktor always insisted on Yuuri bringing Vicchan to visit, and he was delighted to learn that they shared names. Although Viktor didn’t like to put Makkachin on a leash, they sometimes went for a walk together. When Yuuri wanted to exchange numbers, he was surprised to find out that Viktor didn’t have a cell phone, and he even needed to explain to him how they worked because he had never seen any. 

Viktor’s strangeness was really charming, and Yuuri didn’t even notice when he started to fall for him. 

One other particularly odd situation was when Yuuri came to visit, having bought some leftovers from his cooking, and Viktor rushed to him with a scissor in his hands. His long silver-blond hair fell freely on his shoulders and back, slightly wavy from the braids he usually wore them in. 

“Cut my hair,” he said without any greeting. “I want to have it as short as yours.”

“Woah, Viktor,” Yuuri held up his hands, slightly afraid that his excited friend would accidently stab him. “I can’t do that. Why do you want to cut it anyway?”

“Because it’s strange!”

“No, it’s really pretty,” Yuuri blurted out, blushing. Viktor stopped flinging with the scissors, and his cheeks became slightly red too.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri nodded, regaining his confidence; Viktor didn’t laugh at him. 

“I still want it short,” he said. “It’s bothering me in my work.”

“Okay,” Yuuri sighed, defeated. “I’ll bring you to my hairdresser.”

“Can’t you do it for me?”

“I have no idea about cutting hair.”

“Oh… but I trust you.”

“Have you ever cut your hair?” Yuuri asked suspiciously. 

“My stepmother sometimes cut a bit from the ends… but she let me grow it out since I liked it long. But I think I need a change now.”

“Okay,” Yuuri nodded. “I’ll take you to a hairdresser, but please set down those scissors first.”

 

*

 

Yuuri felt almost physical pain as he watched Viktor’s hair being cut. The hairdresser mourned it too, but she did her job well after Viktor told her that he was sure of his decision. Then the silver strands started to fall to the ground unstoppably, and Yuuri wondered if it would be really strange if he stole a few strands of it. He saw the discomfort on Viktor’s face when he first felt the buzzling sensation of the electric razor on his neck, pressing his lips tightly together while staring at his pale reflection in the mirror. He agreed on not cutting his hair completely the same way as Yuuri’s was, so she left a fringe falling in front of his eyes. 

And despite of all his discomfort during the process, he seemed to be satisfied with the outcome. Viktor kept on digging his hand in his new short hair, ruffling it. Yuuri had to admit that this new look fitted him perfectly, and made him look slightly older and more serious. 

“Be honest with me,” Viktor said when they stepped into his house. “You hate it, right?”

“No, of course not!”

“But you liked me better with long hair,” Viktor pouted. 

“I don’t care about your hair,” Yuuri blurted out, “you look beautiful either way.”

“You really think so?” Viktor blinked, and Yuuri would have probably sunk into the floor in embarrassment if Viktor wasn’t blushing as well.

“Yeah,” Yuuri nodded. “You looked like a fairy prince, and now you look like a fairy king.”

Yuuri knew as soon as he blurted this out how stupid this sounded because Viktor started to laugh loudly, shoulders shaking. However when he attempted to run away and hide in the storeroom, Viktor caught him in a hug, resting his chin on his shoulder. He smelled like a mixture of dried plants. 

“Aw, Yuuri, that’s so sweet!” he giggled. “Nobody had ever said such a nice compliment to me before.”

Yuuri was startled at the sudden display of affection, and when Viktor noticed that he wasn’t hugging him back, he drew apart. Yuuri patted his arm awkwardly. To be honest, he quite enjoyed Viktor’s hug. 

“People are blind.”

“No, not so much. They usually think I’m a witch.”

“You’re way too nice to be a witch.”

“If you say so,” Viktor chuckled amused, and Yuuri stared embarrassed at the shelves. The awkwardness hung thick in the air, and it remained until Yuuri remembered why he originally came by today: his cooking. He took it from the fridge where they put it before leaving to the hairdresser, and pushed it in Viktor’s hands. 

“You said that you wanted to taste my cooking… so I brought you some. I know it’s not as good as freshly cooked but…”

“Amazing!” Viktor clapped his hands excitedly. “Thank you. But you must be hungry too.”

Despite Yuuri telling him that it wasn’t necessary, Viktor insisted on giving him something to eat too. Then he led him upstairs, in his living room which could have been part of the shop too, as there were even more plants; Viktor was probably growing his herbs here. The dogs followed them curiously, hoping that their owners would give them something too. 

“No, Makka, you know that I’m still mad at you for last time.”

“What has she done?” Yuuri asked as he cut into the simple roasted meat Viktor gave him. It was alright, but missed salt, and Yuuri didn’t want to ask for it. 

“She stole food, but she was too greedy, and if I hadn’t found her, she would have choked on it. She almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Shame on you, Makka,” Yuuri said, but the dog only wagged her tail friendly. “This wasn’t nice.”

“Right? She was very lucky.” Viktor dug into the food, and as he tasted it, his whole face brightened up. “Oh my God, Yuuri, this is amazing! What is it?”

“It’s port cutlet bowl, my speciality.”

“I wish you could cook for me every day, this is better than anything I’ve ever made.”

Yuuri blushed at the praise as he had to agree, wishing the same – despite being so good with herbs, Viktor’s cooking was pretty forgettable, lacking something. 

They hadn’t known by that time yet that their wish would come true soon, and that they would move together after becoming a couple. 

 

*

 

Yuuri woke up to Viktor’s rustling in the apartment. He felt cold as he was used to Viktor’s body wrapped around him every night as if he was a living blanket. 

After living together for a while, he got used to Viktor’s strange habits. He spoke to himself while sorting out herbs, got up in the middle of the night to collect things for his work, and now as Yuuri went to the living room, he was spacing around the place, muttering in Russian – which Yuuri recognized only because he started to learn it to help Viktor’s homesickness. 

There were bags packed in the room as if he wanted to leave, and Yuuri’s heart sank at the sight. 

Viktor hadn’t told him anything about travelling somewhere, so this could mean only one thing: he was planning on leaving Yuuri. Yuuri felt his breath quickening while he tried to swallow down his tears and the heavy feeling, understanding now why Viktor seemed to be distant and stressed lately. 

And to think that he wanted to propose to him and had already bought the rings… The only thing holding him back was that Viktor had been restless. 

“Vitya?” he asked, and his boyfriend startled as he noticed him. “Are you leaving?”

Viktor bit in his lower lip – a very uncharacteristic thing which he probably took over from Yuuri. “Maybe?”

“You could have broken up with me properly instead of leaving without a word,” Yuuri said, and he heard as his voice got higher in the middle of the sentence, the first tears swelling in his eyes. 

“No, this is not a break up!” Viktor rushed to him, and grabbed Yuuri’s shoulders. “I don’t know how to explain this but… it isn’t safe here anymore.”

“Please try it,” Yuuri pressed together his trembling lips. “Otherwise I can’t believe it.”

“Do you remember my old… mentor?”

Yuuri knitted his brows – Viktor told him once that he fled to Detroit from his controlling teacher who closed him in his house, and didn’t let him leave for a very long time, stating that the world outside was too dangerous for Viktor. After that conversation, Yuuri understood why Viktor didn’t like to talk about his past. 

He nodded. 

“I think he found me.”

“He came here all over from Europe?”

“It seems so,” Viktor nodded with a serious expression. “Not that it would be that hard for him.”

“So… you planned on simply vanishing from here? From my life?”

“I wanted to keep you safe.”

“Vitya… let me help you.” Yuuri knew that he didn’t look like much help with his tear swollen eyes, but he felt desperate at the thought that Viktor would leave him to be hunted down by his crazy mentor. 

“I’m afraid you’d think I’m crazy.”

“Try me,” Yuuri said firmly.

“I’m a witch.”

“Okay… that sounds indeed pretty crazy.”

“Look,” Viktor took his hand, leading him in the middle of the room. “I already drew a transportation circle. I might need to do some changes if you want to come with me, but you have to decide now. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to do though.”

Yuuri stared unbelievingly at the drawing on the floor. Viktor was a nice man – he surely wouldn’t play such a prank on him, right? But before he could have answered, they heard a crash outside. The dogs started to growl and bark which was very unusual for them, and Viktor shoved him into the wardrobe. 

“He was quicker than I thought,” he whispered, closing the door on Yuuri. “Stay here, I’m going to fight him.”

Yuuri wanted to hit the door, but he couldn’t move – maybe Viktor casted a spell on him so that he stays still. He heard the door forcefully opening, and Viktor shouted; there were more crashing – Viktor was indeed fighting. Finally, Yuuri felt like he could move his limbs again, so he used the opportunity to burst out of the wardrobe. 

The living room looked like a warzone; dust flow in the air, and most of their furniture was ruined as the two men were fighting. They moved almost like dancing, throwing spells at each other with herb seeds, and now Yuuri could believe that Viktor was a witch. 

“Oh, you didn’t hide your lover well enough, Viktor,” the man spoke, and Viktor turned his head away for a minute to stare at Yuuri frightened. This was enough for his old mentor to throw something on him which turned into a net. Viktor lost his balance, falling on the ground. “This is pathetic, we’re going home.”

“I don’t want to go with you!” Viktor hissed. 

“And who will stop me?” he smiled coldly. “You still have a lot to learn, I didn’t even sweat while fighting with you.”

“I won’t let you take him away!” Finally, Yuuri found his voice again and stepped closer, positioning himself between the two witches. “He had enough of you.”

“Step away, human, you don’t know anything.”

“I love Viktor, and I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Love?” he laughed sharply. “Would you love him even if you knew what he is? That he isn’t human?”

“Yes.” Yuuri moved backwards until he reached Viktor, and he started to free him from the net. “I was going to propose him when you stumbled in our life, completely uninvited.”

“Yuuri…” Viktor’s eyes widened at his words. “You mean it?”

Yuuri nodded, pulling Viktor to him by his waist. “I won’t let the man I love being kidnapped.”

Viktor threw his arms around him, glaring at his mentor. Yuuri was quite sure that the last thing he would see in his life would be this man, towering above them to curse them, but then Viktor spoke. 

“You heard him, Georgi. I’m not a fool, I know you’re stronger than both of us; but if you hurt him in any way, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

“You’re still a foolish young boy who doesn’t know anything about the world around him,” the man grumbled. “You don’t know what you throw away with this, only when you outlive him with centuries because of your magic.”

Yuuri felt as Viktor hugged him closer. “I may outlive him, but I get to spend a lifetime with him.”

It was as if some unknown force was battling between the two of them, and Yuuri was stuck between them; he felt the nervous electricity in the air and hang onto Viktor for his dear life. Then the man huffed, turning on his heels. 

“Well then, foolish boy, but don’t come to me crying when he dies and leaves you all alone,” he said with a clearly annoyed voice as he left through the window. 

Yuuri let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding while Viktor started to tremble in his arms. He rocked him gently and petted his hair as he cried silently until the shock of battling his old mentor was finally out of his system. 

“I’m free,” he whispered. “I can’t believe it.”

“Yes, you are,” Yuuri said softly. “He won’t come back.”

“What were you thinking, jumping between us like that?!” Viktor scolded him suddenly. “He could have killed you!”

“I _wasn’t thinking_ at that moment,” Yuuri shrugged. “I just knew that my life would be empty without you, and that I wouldn’t let him take you away even if he changed me into a frog.”

“Ah, you brave, foolish man,” Viktor giggled. “I love you so much.”

Yuuri kissed him. “I love you too.”

“So… you were about to propose me?”

Yuuri blushed. “Yeah, but only after your wounds are treated.”

Viktor picked up some scattered seeds from the floor. He drew them to his arms where he had some scratches from the battle, and soothed them to his skin. Yuuri watched in awe as they melted into his skin, healing the wounds. 

“Well… how about now?”

Yuuri jumped up, and rushed in the bedroom to get the rings. When he got back, Viktor was still sitting on the floor, but the living room seemed to be cleaned up; now he understood why everything seemed to be so clean whenever Viktor was around. 

He knelt down in front of his boyfriend, holding out the golden rings. 

“Will you…”

“Yes, yes, just put it on!” Viktor told him excitedly, reaching his hand to him. His eyes shone with joy as Yuuri pushed the ring on his finger, and when it was done, he caught Yuuri in a passionate kiss. 

He was completely free despite of being madly in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reblog the beautiful art [here](http://ichi-ichka.tumblr.com/post/175409976580/yuuri-finally-meets-victor-in-his-little-herb)!
> 
> Let me know what you think here or on tumblr: [suonjar](http://tulikettu.tumblr.com/)


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